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Canonical and Apocryphal Books (Blogging the Belgic: Article 6)

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Article 4 of the Belgic Confession lists the books that the Reformed church views as the authoritative Word of God, and Article 5 mentions that these books, and only these, are to be viewed as our ultimate guide for what we belief (faith) and what we do (practice), yet article 6 then goes on to list a number of books that are not viewed this way, in particular: “the third and fourth books of Esdras; the books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Jesus Sirach, Baruch; what was added to the Story of Esther; the Song of the Three Children in the Furnace; the Story of Susannah; the Story of Bel and the Dragon; the Prayer of Manasseh; and the two books of Maccabees.” Why are these books specifically mentioned in the confession but not other Jewish or Christian writings?

The reason goes back to the time period in which the Belgic Confession was written, as the 1500’s was a period of time in which there was dispute between the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant churches scattered throughout Europe about the nature of the Bible’s authority versus church tradition as well as the books that are found in the Bible. The books named in this article were some of the books disputed, as in 1546 the Council of Trent affirmed these writings noted above its list of biblical books, placing them in the Old Testament (as one will find them in Catholic translations of the Bible). Reformed Christians differed because these books and additions (as the list included additions to Esther and Daniel), which were written between the time of the Old and New Testaments, were never received as authoritative by the Jews and Jesus and the early apostles did not view these as being authoritative like they did with what we now call the Old and New Testaments; in fact, these books were written in the period in which Jews feel prophecy had stopped and Christians view as the “silent period.” Part of what seems to have happened historically is that these books, which also seem to have been largely written in Greek, were placed in collections alongside of the Greek translation of the Old Testament books (what is called the Septuagint); in so doing, there was some confusion of the value of these books in comparison to the Old Testament books. When Jerome (who lived around 400) translated the Bible into Latin (what is called the Vulgate), he distinguished between these books and the Old Testament; they were not part of the Old Testament in his mind (and he was not alone in this). In many ways, Protestants follow this example; for example, those who translated the King James Version of the Bible translated these books as well but placed them in a different category.

The confession does not say that these books are heretical or evil, just that they are not on the same plane as the Old and New Testaments. Here is how the confession puts its: “The church may certainly read these books and learn from them as far as they agree with the canonical books. But they do not have such power and virtue that one could confirm from their testimony any point of faith or of the Christian religion. Much less can they detract from the authority of the other holy books.” One can learn things from them, just as one can learn from every writing, but they do not have the same power to change and transform lives because they are not the words of God through humans. Even more importantly, they cannot be used to teach a new doctrine (which is important, as elements of the teaching of purgatory emerge in 2 Maccabees 12:43-46) nor can it be used to undercut or challenge a teaching that is found in the books viewed as canonical, our rule for faith and practice.

I have read these books and examination affirms the the beliefs of the confession, as the books do not claim the same sort of authority and there are some potential problems in the books. First, the books don’t seem to testify to themselves as being inspired and authoritative, with 2 Maccabees ending this way: 37 This, then, is how matters turned out with Nicanor. And from that time the city has been in the possession of the Hebrews. So I too will here end my story. 38 If it is well told and to the point, that is what I myself desired; if it is poorly done and mediocre, that was the best I could do. 39 For just as it is harmful to drink wine alone, or, again, to drink water alone, while wine mixed with water is sweet and delicious and enhances one’s enjoyment, so also the style of the story delights the ears of those who read the work. And here will be the end” (2 Maccabees 15:37-39, NRSV). Second, there are some things questionable historically, as the book of Judith notes that Nebuchadnezzar was King of Nineveh when he was king of Babylon, which had destroyed Nineveh. In addition, there are certain teachings and practices found in these books that seem odd and potentially contradictory of teachings found in the canonical books.

Therefore, these books might have value in understanding the background of the Christian faith, but not in establishing the Christian faith. I have found value in them for reading the New Testament, as the book of Maccabees shows the historical background for the celebration of Hanukkah (which Jesus celebrates in John 10:22-39, as Hanukkah was known as the Feast of Rededication). The events of the Maccabean revolt, as described in 1 and 2 Maccabees, can show reasons for the hostility between Jew and Gentile and Jews relaxing the law, illuminating Paul’s discussion of unity among these two groups. The book of Tobit shows the importance of almsgiving in Jews of Jesus’s time among other things. Wisdom and Jesus Sirach (also called Sirach) gives backdrop for Jewish wisdom teachings. In addition, the stories of Tobit, Bel and the Dragon, and Judith are pretty exciting and would make for great movies (they are fairly quick reads!); search the internet for summaries of those books and you will know what I mean (as space precludes details of them here).

In sum, these books can help us have more knowledge and awareness when we read Scripture, but these are not books that will be taught or preached from in a Reformed church pulpit (or platform as the case may be!) nor should they be read instead of the books of the Old and New Testaments, as those are the books that are “holy and canonical, for the regulating, founding, and establishing of our faith.”

Questions about Bible or theology, e-mail them to Pastor Brian at Theology@wearefaith.org. You can also subscribe by filling out the info on the right side.

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